EL SEGUNDO – Ron Artest sprinted from the Staples Center court. He raced past his family. He raced past a television interviewer. He raced into the Lakers’ locker room and found it was deserted.

So, he turned and retraced his steps, running back to the court.

No question, Artest figured out how to come up with the right shot at the right time for the Lakers in the dying seconds of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Thursday night. It was his postgame celebration that needed some serious work.

On the day after he plucked Kobe Bryant’s air ball from the front of the rim and then tossed the ball off the backboard and through the hoop for the winning basket at the final buzzer, Artest said it was time to forget the past.

It was time to end the whirlwind of emotions surrounding him and the Lakers in the wake of their 103-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns, which gave them a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-7 series.

Artest said he celebrated with his teammates “for 30 or 40 minutes” and then began to shift his focus to Game 6 tonight in Phoenix. He declined to second-guess his shot selection inside the final minute, when he shanked two ill-advised jumpers.

He also refused to revel in his redemption at the final buzzer.

“It just didn’t feel like I won a Game 5,” he said after the Lakers practiced Friday. “It didn’t feel like that. It felt like we need to win Game 6. I wish I could have enjoyed it more. I don’t know if I’m going about it the right way or the wrong way.”

Artest said he received a postgame text message from Mike Bibby, a former teammate when both played for the Sacramento Kings.

“He was, like, `Wow, great shot,”‘ Artest said. “Great shot? What are you talking about? I got the ball over my head. No form. Just threw it off the backboard.”

Artest said he stopped off on his way home at a local health club to lift weights, which isn’t all that unusual for him. He also said there was no warm reception awaiting him at the gym, adding, “The lights were off. They tried to kick me out.”

Then he arrived 30 minutes late to Friday’s practice, according to Lakers coach Phil Jackson, drawing a fine. Evidently, he misread the instructions to the players, which were written on the dry-erase board inside the locker room Thursday night.

“No, I certainly can’t,” Jackson said when asked if he could explain the Lakers’ eccentric small forward. “I tell Lamar (Odom) that he’s his guardian, so we have not the blind leading the blind, but the deaf leading the blind.

“These two grew up together (in New York). They have a history together.”

Now, they stand one victory away from reaching the NBA Finals together. The Lakers can eliminate the Suns with a victory tonight in Game 6. If necessary, the teams will play a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night at Staples Center.

Bold statement

Artest reacted with disdain when told Phoenix guard Steve Nash predicted the Suns would win tonight to force the Lakers to Game 7. Artest launched into a lengthy rant about the lack of respect he and the Lakers have received during the playoffs. He did not raise his voice, but his disgust was apparent.

“Oh man, that’s like no respect,” he said. “No respect. No respect for us. No respect. That’s how it’s been for a long time in these playoffs. We’ll talk about it. I’m sure we’ll talk about it. Coaches have no respect for the Lakers at all.

“They don’t respect us at all. They don’t respect me at all. They want me to play out of character and start jacking up all kinds of crazy shots and not look to pass the ball to Pau (Gasol). (Suns) coach Alvin Gentry doesn’t respect me.

“A lot of the (opposing) players have no respect. I think there will come a point in time when they respect me. I’ll wait. I’m not rushing. We respect them (the Suns), though. I respect them. I guess we have to play hard and earn it.”

Bold statement, Part II

Jackson had this to say about capitalizing on the opportunity to close out the Suns: “We’re not going over there just to fill a date. We’re going over there to win a game. We’re highly motivated for this game, but we understand if it has to go to a Game 7, we’re damn well ready to defend our home court again.”

Elliott Teaford covers the Clippers and the NBA for the Southern California News Group. He has written about hockey for the past five years and is looking forward to thawing out after so many days and nights sitting in frozen rinks. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.

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